Find Her
by Twilights Lily
Summary: Heart/Lyra has been missing for months, and only her rival knows where she could be: Mt. Silver. He goes off to find her, but what he finds might not meet up with expectations. Oneshot. T for language.


**Author's Note:** A short oneshot idea that has been stuck in my head ever since beating Red in HeartGold. Just to be clear; Silver/Rival=Soul and Lyra= Heart. Why did I name them like that? Because in my HeartGold game that's what I named them, and this is based off my game (my team anyways). Now that that's done, I'm off to play SoulSilver…what? It was free. Rated Teen for Soul's potty mouth. Crappy title is crap.

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Find Her

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Where the hell did she go? Everyone was going crazy over the disappearance of Heart, the latest champion of Johto, and no one had clue as to where she was only he had an idea. Soul was waiting for her at the Pokemon League, he knew her habits, knew she would come to face the league again to keep her team on their toes, but she never came, for months she was a no show. It was then he heard the employees from the Mart within the league utter her name.

"Did you hear about that trainer?" asked one.

"Oh, you mean that Heart girl?" number two confirmed. Soul's ears perked at the name, he kept still leaning against the wall, but listened.

"Yes, that one, apparently she's missing!"

"Missing? Oh how terrible, my cousin is such a fan…"

"Her mother was on the radio the other night—begging for anyone who knew where she might be to come forward. Tragic, isn't it?"

"Oh, for sure. I thought she was going to take Lance's place once he retired! I guess that won't be happening."

The first one gasped, "You know what this reminds me off?" she asked her co-worker.

"Oh, oh, what?"

"That kid from Kanto! Oh…what was his name, it was an 'R' name I think…."

"Red?"

"That's it! He split up Team Rocket and somehow became champion all within the same month. Then he just up and disappeared."

"Yeah, so?"

"Heart did the same thing! Is it a coincidence that they both went missing?"

"I dunno…"

"Think about it. Seriously something is—"

Soul stopped listening at that point, he had heard enough. Heart was missing, that pig-tailed trainer decided to drop off the face of the earth did she? Not without hearing from him she wasn't.

He left his post and walked out of the League and found himself at the Reception Gate. The last he saw of Heart was at the Dragon Den while he was training. They had met there once before, and it was there did he finally see her power without being on the receiving end. That day he realized that the smile she wore whenever she battled wasn't that of arrogance, but out of pure joy of the sport. He never noticed all the different emotions she displayed whenever she battled, and it fascinated him, it was then did he decide to battle with her whenever the opportunity would arise. However that second meeting at the Dragon Den caught him off guard.

"Hey, what'cha doing?"

He quickly took his concentration from his Meganium to the brunette behind him. "What do you want?" he asked, not up for a battle at that moment.

"To know what you're doing, duh," she said, her Flareon watching his every move, ready to rip his throat out he imagined. Her first few Pokemon hated him, and that fireball was no different. Heart walked around him to pet his tired Meganium.

"Like it's any of your business."

She rolled her eyes, "So secretive—it gets annoying after a while, you know."

"I'm annoying?"

"You can be."

"Look who's talking."

"I'm not that bad," she said, flashing him a smile.

"I guess not, but you can be."

"I can be a lot of things, apparently," she laughed.

"Seriously though, did you come here just to laugh at me?"

"Huh?"

"I'm going to train here until I beat you, I lack discipline or something."

"Well I noticed you've been taking better care of your Pokemon. So you're on the right track."

"….Thanks," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, but what was that?" she asked, mocking him.

"Oh forget it!"

She laughed, "Whatever. I better be off, can't spend the whole day laughing at you."

"Go, I don't care."

"Didn't think you would, buster," she said, preparing to set off, sending out her Feraligatr.

Soul turned his back from her and waited to hear a splash so he could continue his training, but he heard nothing. He turned back around to see what the problem was. "What?" he asked when he caught her staring.

"Thought I'd let you know I was going to Mt. Silver," she said, her smile never faltering.

"Why are you telling me?"

She shrugged, "I needed to tell _someone_."

He rolled his eyes, "Why go there?"

"Red's there."

Soul knew who she was talking about, but he doubted that it was true, "What makes you so sure?"

"Blue told me. Besides, I just have a feeling—he's waiting for someone to come up there. Come up there and beat him."

Soul chuckled and gave her his trademark smirk, "Well, good luck with that."

"Thanks!"

"That was sarcasm!"

"Don't care, I'll take what I can get," Heart said, sticking her tongue out.

"You're so annoying."

"Yeah…" she said, hopping onto her faithful Feraligatr, she whispered in his ear and they were off.

Soul hadn't seen her since then, hadn't even heard of her since that conversation in the Mart. Now he was climbing a mountain in search of her. Why? Because he could that's why. He was the only one who knew where she was, or at least planning to be, the least he could do was look…right?

By sunset he regretted not doing less, he realized that he could have just told her mother or the police (despite previous trouble with them) she told him she was going toe Mt. Silver instead of going through this trouble. It wasn't worth it, he would think, and it wasn't, until he found her.

At first, he wasn't sure it was her. Sure, the clothes, hair, and the hat (no mistaking the hat) was all her, but her spirit was gone, he couldn't find any of her energy in that blank stare. She was just watching the flames from the fire in front of her, her Flareon resting her upper body in her trainer's lap. That Pokemon noticed him approaching first, and growled at him. Heart turned her head and only a flash of recognition passed along her face.

"Soul?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me," he said, stepping closer.

Flareon stiffened and pressed her ears to her head, growling at the boy again.

"Shh, it's fine, girl," Heart cooed as she stroked her mane, "What're you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he said.

She scoffed, "Let me guess, looking for a battle?" she got up, Flareon rising up with her, "Well guess what? I'm sick and tired of battling! I don't ever want to do it again—you hear me?"

Soul was caught off guard, where did this rage come from? He glared at her, "I'm not here for a stickin' battle! You've been gone for _months_!"

"Whatever," she said, crossing her arms and dropping back down.

"Have you been living here the whole time?"

"What's it to you?"

"I climbed all the way up this fucking mountain looking for _you_. I want an explanation."

She looked away from him apparently she wasn't willing to share.

Soul groaned, he didn't need to deal with this he wasn't sure why he was even there still with a stubborn girl who refused to talk and a Flareon ready to kill him. He crossed his arms to think, he considered leaving but even though he decided that was what he should do—he couldn't get himself to move away.

Heart scratched behind Flareon's ear and the Pokemon pressed her head closer to her hand. "Wanna know why I evolved Flareon?" she asked him unprovoked.

He looked to her in question he didn't know how to answer.

"It's because you had Bayleef. I didn't have a single Pokemon that could beat it easily. So when Bill gave me an Eevee I opted to get a Firestone," she said. She shook her head and chuckled, "That was the only reason. To beat _you_." She was looking up at him now.

Soul remained speechless. The girl always beat him, _always_. She never had a difficult time of doing so either, he couldn't believe her.

"Then you got Sneasel, and I kept her since she could beat it without hesitation. Only reason I did…now she's my best friend and one of the best battlers I've raised."

"Why are you telling me this?" he eventually asked, her words were cold he always held the assumption she chose her Pokemon based on love and friendship—not on whether or not they could beat him.

"Because you deserve to know the truth. I preach about befriending Pokemon and all that—but I'm a strategist at heart," she said, "I love my Pokemon but I'm still a battler, and that's all I'll ever be."

"You're…you're kidding, right?"

She quickly shot him a glare, "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"You're the spokesperson for Pokemon ate friends, not tools campaign. You follow it to a tee, and you've never doubted yourself before. What the hell happened up here?"

She looked down to Flareon, refused to look at him and shook her head, "I found him," she finally admitted.

"Found who?"

"I found Red. He was here, Soul. He was here and you should have seen him! You wouldn't talk wouldn't even look at me, he just sent out his first Pokemon and I knew he wanted a battle," she told him. She paused to look up to the snowy sky before she continued, "And I won, it was the hardest battle I've ever had to do but I beat him."

Soul watched as she laughed at the thought. He was the last to be afraid of the young trainer but while she laughed so darkly, as if she found the whole situation completely fucked up it was all he really felt. This wasn't the girl he knew, he was afraid he had lost her.

"I'm sure I battled a ghost, Soul. I might sound crazy but I know it's true, it has to be! Because as soon as it was all over, he smiled and disappeared, it makes since, right? Because it's impossible to live up here for three years…right?"

"Heart, I don't know what happened, but this isn't you."

"Ooooh, am I not the girl you thought I was? Well tough titties! Sorry I couldn't be the clueless little girl you seem to love so much. "

"What are you even talking about!"

She stood up and began yelling at him, "Don't play dumb! You only keep looking for me because you think I'm lucky—that I have no idea what I'm doing so you might still have a chance to beat me. Well guess what? I'm too fucking good at what I do. You'll _never_ beat me." She was close enough to his face to kiss him, but instead she pushed him with all her might.

He was only pushed a step back, but was shocked enough that he could only stare at her, his mind blank of anything else, until he got angry, "You know what? Fuck you! I don't need this, and I defiantly don't need you to prove that I'm strong enough to hold my own, I can do that by myself. I don't need a scared little girl lashing out at me because she realized she isn't who she thought she was."

Heart backed away from him, keeping her hat over her face so he couldn't see her eyes. He stubbornly stood his ground he had decided not to take any of it back—until he saw the tears roll down her cheeks.

"Oh hell, Heart," he said, "Don't…don't cry."

She wiped them away with her sleeve, but they were soon replaced with fresh tears.

"Damn it…don't cry," he mumbled, not sure what to do. The most human contact he received now days was if a trainer accidentally touched him when handing over their money after a battle. He shuffled uncomfortably as she continued crying and he could only think of one thing that might actually work. He took her in for a one armed hug, letting his other arm to hang uselessly at his side. Her Flareon didn't seem happy about that, but it kept her distance, probably because Heart was holding on to him tight.

"I don't want to end up like Red. I want to be more than a ghost," she confided in him.

He was stiff and he had a feeling he was sort of hard to hug but he kept still for her so she could cry into his shirt. "You aren't him," he finally said, "You don't have to stay up here, you know."

She sniffed, "Yeah…" she laughed, "Guess I don't."

She still wouldn't let go of him, but he finally relaxed and rested his chin on top of her head. "It's dark now though. Do you mind staying one more night?"

"Shut up you're ruining the moment," she said, her voice was finally familiar again.

He laughed and for once, decided it was better to keep his mouth shut.


End file.
